Showing Off Shopping Sprees, Fashion 'Haulers' Cash In Online

Abigail Moscaritolo holds up a recent fashion find on a "haul video." The YouTube trend has become so popular that fashion retailers are approaching haulers to promote their products online.

AbbyLynn401/YouTube

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on March 14, 2013 4:49 pm

Before getting to her homework, Abigail Moscaritolo, 19, sits in her unadorned room and adjusts her webcam. With little effort, she spills about the cute things she bought last week: a lazy white tee, a couple of basic black tops, bohemian-like earrings.

"This was on sale for $20 with 70 percent off, so you do the math," she says, holding up an oversized shirt.

She's making a "haul video" — the YouTube equivalent of calling a best friend and gushing about a recent shopping spree. Trivial details are accepted and overexcitement is encouraged.

"I thought it'd be cool to give fashion inspiration to other people," says Moscaritolo, who constantly reassures her audience that she's not bragging about her finds.

On the hauler totem pole, Moscaritolo is still at the very bottom. She started making the videos only recently after watching an army of successful haulers sweep YouTube in the past few years.

But rookies like her are part of the reason why the fashion ritual keeps growing.

"Haul videos are big and they are growing," says Lisa Green, head of industry, fashion and luxury brands at Google. She says there are 700,000 haul videos on YouTube today, up from 150,000 in 2010. "We saw more than 34,000 uploads happen just last month, and we've been seeing an increase in viewers on haul channels over time."

Turning A Hobby Into Profit

It's fair to say that many of the haulers behind those rising numbers love to espouse beauty and fashion wisdom. But there's an added incentive to the videos: They can be pretty lucrative.

For Caitlin Ellsworth, known as Glamourista16, hauling is a part-time job. When she started three years ago, her bouncy personality attracted not just tens of thousands of admiring fans, but lots of fashion retailers — and they came bearing offers.

"I had no idea what to expect when the first company approached me," Ellsworth says. "It was from a cosmetic company and they just said, 'Hey, I'd like to hear your feedback on this eye shadow, and it'd be awesome if you could feature it in a video.' "

Ellsworth now works regularly with more than 15 companies, including Seventeen Magazine and several YouTube beauty channels.

There are many ways haulers partner with companies, Ellsworth says. Some review products from retailers that then pay them. Others receive commission on sales generated by videos that feature a company's product. In some cases, girls with corporate sponsors host contests to give away products.

"You can definitely make a lot," Ellsworth says. "Some girls are making six figures. So, it can definitely be a good job."

In every scenario, haulers are required under Federal Trade Commission guidelines to disclose in videos if they received free things.

Lately, she's been trying a lot of new things from the junior apparel company Windsor. Windsor doesn't pay Ellsworth, but it gives her license to pick out and keep a limited number of outfits that she'll feature in videos.

Low-Investment Marketing

Evelyn Campos, Windsor's assistant manager for online and marketing, says the company started relying on haulers several years ago as a marketing tool during tough economic times. "We needed a way to reach out to our customers without having a huge marketing budget," she says. "And we felt this was right up our alley with our target demographic."

Campos says the videos of the 20 haulers she works with garnered more than 5 million views last year. She doesn't want to disclose how much the company profits from haulers, but a Google study indicates that it's probably lucrative. Four out of 10 people who watch a haul video end up virtually or physically visiting whatever store is mentioned, according to the study.

While that kind of following can benefit clothing companies, it's also huge for haulers like Ellsworth who have their eyes set on a big dream.

"I'm currently working on expanding my name and I definitely want to have my own beauty business, whether that be with makeup or fashion," Ellsworth says.

Only a handful of the biggest haulers can say they made it to the fashion big leagues. Elle and Blair Fowler, sisters from Tennessee, stumbled into haul and beauty videos five years ago, and have since attracted millions of fans with their uniquely animated personalities. The pair have released a book, Beneath The Glitter, and have even launched a beauty product line.

"For years, we've been creating video blogs and we've tested literally every single beauty product out there," Blair Fowler said in a video launching their makeup line. "So, we decided to take it upon ourselves to perfect our favorite products and colors."

They are, after all, beauty gurus — a title thousands of haulers aspire to.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. This week on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED we've been talking about fast fashion, companies such as H&M, Zara, Forever 21, that make billions of dollars from young, trendy and, more often than not, female shoppers. Today, we hear about a related video phenomenon. First the word haul, that's H-A-U-L, and you'll find videos, lots of them featuring young women showing off the latest styles.

NPR's Reema Khrais reports some of them are turning a passion for shopping into a business.

KHRAIS: They call themselves beauty gurus and no detail is too minor for them to broadcast to the world.

ABIGAIL MOSCARITOLO: This was on sale for $20 with 70 percent off, so you do the math, like 50 percent off is $10. So it's less than $10.

KHRAIS: That's Abby Moscaritolo. She's 19 and buys all of those adorable tops out of her own pocket. In fact, her parents only recently found out about her haul videos and none of her close friends know.

MOSCARITOLO: I'm a very, very shy person, not the type of person that would put themself out on the internet.

KHRAIS: But clearly, she's not shy when it comes to fashion. Apparently, a lot of teens aren't.

LISA GREEN: Haul videos are big and they are growing.

KHRAIS: That's Lisa Green, head of industry, fashion and luxury brands at Google.

GREEN: We actually now have over 700,000 haul videos on YouTube and that's up from only 150,000 in 2010.

KHRAIS: You can thank hauler rookies like Abby for those rising numbers. They're emulating their favorite and most successful haulers, like this one.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

KHRAIS: That's Glamourista16. Her real name is Caitlin Ellsworth and she's been hauling for three years. She's actually one of Abby's idols. So I recently introduced the two. Caitlin, meet Abby. Abby, meet Caitlin.

MOSCARITOLO: Hi.

: Hi. Nice to meet you.

MOSCARITOLO: Oh, I'm a big fan, by the way. Like, I love your videos. It is so awesome to actually get to talk to you. It's so cool.

: Oh, thank you.

KHRAIS: Caitlin has tens of thousands of fans. So many trust her sense of style that now makeup and clothing companies ask her to do haul videos and that's snowballed to things like product deals and sponsorship offers.

: You can definitely make a lot. And, you know, some girls are making six figures. It can definitely be a really good job.

KHRAIS: Caitlin works with more than 15 companies. In most cases, fashion and makeup retailers approach her with a deal. They say, hey, if you make a video a month featuring our product, we'll let you keep it and pay you X-amount.

: For me, it's not an incentive just to get free products. I love trying new things and I think it's fun.

KHRAIS: Lately, she's been trying a lot of new things from Windsor clothing. The fashion retailer doesn't pay Caitlin, but gives her license to pick out and keep whatever outfits she chooses. Evelyn Campos, with Windsor, says they started relying on haulers as a marketing tool during tough economic times.

EVELYN CAMPOS: We needed a way to reach out to our customers without having a huge marketing budget. And we felt that this was right up our alley with our target demographic. So we reached out to Glamourista16 and we started from there.

KHRAIS: And it worked. Check out this stat. According to a Google study, four out of 10 people, 40 percent, who watch haul videos will end up virtually or physically visiting whatever store is mentioned. Statistically speaking, that's huge, and it's exactly what Caitlin needs if she's going to reach her big dream.

: I'm currently working on, you know, expanding my name and I definitely want to have my own beauty business, whether that be with makeup or fashion or whatever...

KHRAIS: Making it to the fashion big leagues isn't impossible, but it won't be easy. Only a handful of haulers have pulled that one out of the bag. Reema Khrais, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.